Combing machine



Nov. 2 1926..

J. W. NASMITH CDMBING MACHINE Filed Sept. 3, 1924 JHM MA Jug.,

Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

recaps JOI-IN WILLIAM NASMITH, OF MANCHES TER, ENGLAND, AssrGNon VTo.NAsMITHs rA'rENTs I .nurrnn or Mancrrnsrnn, ENGLAND-- COMBING MACHINE.

Application filed September 3, 1924, Serial No. 735,652g`an in GrreatBritain May 22d, 1924.

In the specification to United States Patent No. 1,466,846 granted to methere is described a feed nipper for a Nasmith combingr machine which,after detaehing- 'has been completed, draws back into the said nippering the feed nipper during 4the backward `movement also alters the timeVof closing during the forward movement to begin the feed, and, as aconsequence, the amount of mate# rial fed.` n

The present invention has for object the removal of the defect aboveindicated by making the point of openingof the1 feed nipper during thebackward movement quite in'- dependent of the point of closing duringthe forward stroke, and to provide mechanism "which'will, allow oftheregulation, in a simw ple and exact manner, of the amount of materialdrawn back into thenipper and consequently ofthe amount of waste takenout,

this regulation not affecting' in any way the amount fed at each stroke,and which amount can in turn, be regulated indepem dently of the amountdrawn back. My invention contemplates furtherthe provision `of meanswhereby the feed on any of thesix combingheada or all of the six whendesired,

may be thrown outof action, and further, means for alteringthe positionof the feed nipper in its relation to the jaw of the main nipper on allsix heads simultaneously.

I n carrying the invention into effect I provide the main nipper jaws,the lower main nipper plate having;` a bacl'rward and forward movementas described in specification to my prior patent. Upon this plate or on"a 'member attached thereto I pivot a lever bearing the upper feednipper jaw, which latter is normally held against the lower feed nipperjaw by spring'tension. Contact `means are provided against which duringthe backward movem entfo'f the main nippel",A andV hence of the upperfeed nipper'jaw-bear` ing lever, the said lever bearing the upper feednipper j aw abuts, so that the upper lfeed nipper jaw is raised againstthel spring tension. During the return or forward movement the Contactmeans are varied in relaby; adjustment of the point atwhich the levers`willjlose Contact with the'contact meansl which caused the upper feednipper to open. Conveniently the lower feed nipper jaw may alsobe'inounted on a leverwhich is pivoted uponthe mainlower nipper plate oron a' member borne thereby'. Restraining means are provided for thislever so that as the main lower nippel" plate rswings the lower feednipper will move also, but at a rlifferent rate of speedto the mainlower `nipper plate, as required by the functionsof the apparatus.

Furtheig "by the arrangement proposed the feed of oneor all of thecombing heads may be rendered inoperative as desired by merely`removinglthe Contact means out of theway ofc-ach lever bearing theupper feed nippe'r jawythe latter in that'case not opening during'thelswing of the main lower nipper platelfv "Avery convenient means'forcarrying the 'invention into effect will now be fully described,reference beine' had to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is alorigitudinal` section .eleva tion through one head of a combing`machine ofthe Nasmith type; Figure 2 isa partial position of the organsat one end of such head, itbeing understoodthat there is a correspondingset of'these members at the other end o f'thevhead; andligure 3 isadetail of mechanism for putting; the feed in any one head ont of action.R- eferringftdFigure l, O indicates the combing cylinder. 'showndiagrammatically,

and -Dthe 'detachinpg roller. VN is the pivot upon which thenipper armsN1V swing to and fro. Bolted to the arms N1 are the uprightsN2,-these`u1: rights being united by a bridge B to whichis secured thelower jaw P2 of the mainfnipper.`L The point lofv` this Alower jawftraverses an 'are indicated in dotted lines at C2'betwe'en the radii Cand C1, beingoperlated 'by ytheii'sual connections (not shown' `in thedrz'tivirik'gs)` from theoscillating nipper shaft W.

. 'At each endlo'f the'bridgeB Yis formed a bossth'ese-bossesbearing'xedstuds They arms aof the top nipper jaw are vpivotedfon thesestuds, but they are not shown, as

their descri tion is not necessary for the eX- planation o the presentinvention, and their omission avoids complication in the drawings.

Upon the studs 1 are also ivoted freely the levers L, one at each si eof the nip-y per. Solid with or secured to these levers L are the shortarms L1 bearing the fixed pins 2. The lower ends of the levers L areconnected by rods 8 to a swivel 9 pivoting on the lever arm 10 keyed toa shaft 11, which shaft is fixed when the apparatus is in operation.Upon the pins 2 are also pivoted freely bell crank arms 3 which carrythe upper jaw F1 of the feed nipper. The lower ends of these arms 3 areconnected by a rod 12 centrally of which is fitted a bowl 13. A spring Sconnects the rod 12 to a pin 23 on a lever 24 onthe shaft W. this springtherefore keeping the jaw Fl tightly pressed downwards on to the lowerjaw F of the feed nipper. This lower aw F is .secured to arms 4 pivotingat one end on the pins 2 and at the other end on pins 5 fixed in a link6 which swings freely on pin 7 secured to the cheeks N1.

The pins 1 move to and fro with the nipper plate P2 along an arcindicated in dotted line at .L1-A1 and obviously, if the levers L werenot controlled the whole system would swing undisturbed with the pins 1and lower jaw F of the nipper remaining in the same relation to theplate P2. The arrangement of the swivelling rods 8 however compels thelower ends of the levers L to followvan arcuate path indicated at R-R1,around the centre 9, as the pins 1 trave-rse their arcuate path A-ALevers L therefore pivot on the pins 1 and as a result the pins 2 andthe members 3 and 4 are drawn backwards and change their rela-tivepositions with regard to plate P2. The bowl 13 on shaft 12 wouldnormally, in the operation above described, follow an arc indicated indotted lines at N3. Pins 2 moving` backwards, however, as the point ofthe nipper plate P2 swings along its arc A-A1, the bowl departs fromthis arcuate pat-h and meets an inclined face 16ZL at the dotted lineposition. 13a, forcing it to deviate further from such path in itsprogress to dotted line position 18". The top jaw F1 of the feed nipperis thus raised around the centre 2 against the tension 0f spring S. Itwill be evident therefore that the position of inclined face 16a inrelation to the arcuate normal path of the bowl 13 will determine thetime of opening of the upper jaw F1 during the backward movement of themain nipper when the feed nipper opens to release the lap, to regulate,thev

amount of material drawn back.

The inclined face 16a is formed upon or secured to the extremity of anarm v16 pivoting on shaft 15 and bolted to anarm 14 keyed on said shaft15. A Set screw or the like 17 in arm 16 and traversing a slot 18 18 inarm 14 serves to adjust the arm 16 in relation to arm 14. Thus, theposition of inclined face 16aL may be regulated in relation to the pathof the bowl 13.

If the shaft 15 and its connected parts, and arm 16, remained stationaryit will be seen that the inclined face 162" being stationary, the upperfeednipper jaw F1 would open and close at the same point owing to theaction of the bowl 13 against such fixed face 16:L in both directions oftraverse of the said bowl, there being thus no effective feed. The lever16 is however controlled from the cam M. operating the lever arm 19through cam bowl 2O pivoted on the end of said lever arm. the other endof the lever arm 19 being mounted on shaft 15 and adjustably secured tothe shoe 21 provided with set screw 22 and also free on the shaft 15.Solid with rfwnber 21 is the arm 2T provided with two holes 28 and 29. Alever 30 is keyed on the shaft 15 provided with a hole adapted toregister with either of the holes 28 and 29 as desired, a pin passingthrough the two corresponding holes thus seciuing members 27 and 30 ineither of two positions. During the rearward movement of bowl 13. thebowl 2O is running on the semi-circular face of the cani M and there istherefore lno motion lof the arm 16 and its inclined face 16a. It isobvious that cam M could be moved. considerably around its centrewithout affecting the face 16, that is. without altering` the time inthe backward stroke when bowl 13 makes contact with such inclined facesay at the position 13". and this time can be altered by changing therelative position of arm 16 to lever 14 by means of the pin and slot 17and 18.

rI he cam isregulatable upon its shaft. On the forward nipper stroke thebowl 2O engages the effective or actual cam surface thereof, thuswithdrawing the inclined face 16L by movement of the arm 16. Itwill thusbe seen that by adjustment of the cam M the time that the bowl 13 willleave the face 16a can be easily and accurately regulated and longbefore the bowl 13 again returns to make contact with such face on theinward stroke of the feed nippers the said face has been restored to itsnormal position for that'purpose by the bowl 19 coming upon the circularedge of the cam M. Effectively therefore the time of opening the feednipper can be varied in regard to the time of closing, by changes in therelation of the arcuate paths traversed by bowl 13 on the backwardandforward nipper stroke, and this rel-ation between the paths can bevaried as desired as above described. The amount of vmaterial drawn backwithin the nipper can therefore as a result be varied in relation to theamount fed forward.

The feed nippers can be adjusted in relation to the points of theiiIbottom plates P2 by the adjusting nuts on the rods 8. When the feednippers of each combing head are thus equally adjusted they can all bemoved further from or nearer to the said point of plate lJ2 by looseningthe clamping bolt 26 which passes through slot 25 in each levei 10 andturning the shaft 1l the required angular distance, bolt 26 being thenagain secured.

A method of arresting the feed on any individual combing head is shownin Figure 3 in elevation. rlfhe arm 16 bearing the inclined face 16L haslugs 31 32 to receive pins and Se. The inclined face 16a is a separatemember to arm 16 and is hinged to the latter by pins 33. A latch 35 ishinged on pin 34, and has two notches 36 formed therein. In the arm 16is fixed a pin 37. Thus, to withdraw the face 16fl so that the bowl 13will not make contact with it, the latch 37 is lifted and theappropriate notch allowed to drop over pin 37, no contact between bowl13 and the inclined face thus taking place to raise the upper nipper jawF1.

To arrest the feed of all the nippers of each of the headssimultaneously or to arrest the feed of each of them individually, it isonly necessary to withdraw the inclined face 16a out of the path of bowl13, upper nipper jaw F1 thus remaining closed.

As already explained, arm 27 has two holes 28 and 29 and lever 30 hasone hole which may register with either of them. Normally, during theoperation of the machine, the hole in arm 16 will register with hole 29,a pin passing through them holding these members together in fixedrelation. To withdraw each arm 16 in the combing apparatus out ofcontact with the bowl 13 ofll each head, the pin is withdrawn and theshaft 15 turned until the hole in each arm 2T registers with hole 28 ineach lever 111-. The pin is then passed through the two nowcorresponding holes and the feed on all heads is stopped.

I claim l. In a combing machine an oscillatory lower nipper plate, leversupports for the said plate, a pivot-bearing element mounted on the saidlever supports and on the pivots of which are fulcrumed further leversto which are attached upper and lower feed nipper jaws, an arm bearing acontact face adapted to oscillate to and from the oscillatory path ofthe free ends of the levers bearing the upper feed nipper jaw. meansforadjusting the said arm, and means for varying the oscillation period ofthe said arm in relation to the said path of the said lever ends on theforward movement of the said arm and lever ends, for the purposehereinbefore set forth.

2. In a combing machine having the feed nipper jaws arranged as claimedin claim 1, restraining means for the lever b'earing'the lower feednipper jaw to cause said leverto move around its pivot point as the mainlower nipper plate swings in its backward and forward movement, and aswinging support for the front end of the nipper jaw, for

the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

3. In a combing machine arranged, as claimed in claim 1, contact meansto move the upper feed nipper jaw lever around its pivot point and tovary the relation of the contact means and lever, such means comprisingan arm radially movable upon a shaft having an inclined' face on the endthereof, a bowl carried by the upper feed jaw levers and making slidingcontact with the inclined face during the backward movement of thelevers, and a cam and rod operating the inclined face-bearing arm toalter its relation to the bowl on the forward movementk only of thenipper-bearing lever to vary the length of contact between the bowl andcontact face of the forward movement .in relation to the length ofcontact on the backward movement.

4. In a combing machine having the features claimed in claim 1, an armand a lever to which the contact bearing arm .is adjustj ably secured bya pin and slot to adjustk the contact face in relation to the path ofthe ends of the upper feed nipper jaw bearing levers, substantially asset forth.

5. In a combing machine having the features claimed in claim 1, a leverpivoting on a cam rod sha-ft, an arm bearing the contact face. holes inthe arm and lever, and a pin to pass through a hole in one member andthrough either of two holes in the other member, substantially as andfor the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

6. In a combing machine having the features claimed in claim 1, an armbearing the contact face, such contact face being a member hinged to thearm, a latch portion on the contact face, such latch having a pluralityof recesses therein, and a stud on the Contact face-bearing arm to fitin either ofthe recesses in the latch substantially as and for thepurpose hereinbefore set forth.

7. In a combing machine having the nippers arranged as claimed inclaim1, a. swivelling rod attached to the lower end of the levers bearingsuch jaw, a lever having a swivel bearing for such rod, a shaftsupporting` such swivel bearing lever, 'an arcuate slot in the swivelbearing lever and an adjusting rod passing through such slot,substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN WILLIAM NASMITHf

